Based on a design in George Hepplewhite’s “The Cabinetmakers and Upholsterer’s Guide” (1788), these oval-back chairs were in the latest style. Hepplewhite described the design as “a new and very elegant fashion [that] has arisen within these few years, of finishing [the chairs] with painted or japanned work, which give a rich and splendid appearance to the minutest parts of Ornaments.”

Provenance

Acquired by the MFA, December 1933, purchased as part of a group of three pieces for $1,200.